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Possessing the Promises of God

By David Williams

The Word the Lord gave me for this year has been “Do not consider the former things, nor consider the things of old” (Isaiah 43:18). It seemed when I first got this word, (as I have subsequently received the same word prophetically a few times from various prophetic ministries), that God was trying to change our mindset for a new perspective of our lives and journey. However I have come to see that there is much more to His wisdom than I initially perceived.  Whilst the first implication has great power to transform our understanding to His view of life, I see that beyond a mere change of perspective, God has been wanting to form within us a new mindset for possessing His promises.
    In this article I want to share from our journey this year, through the light of some lessons learnt (and are learning) and where I believe we are heading in 2008 and beyond.
    One of the major works God has been doing in our midst this year is relative to our Isaiah 43:18 instruction, which He emphatically told us was critical to us entering into our next season of harvest. In order for us to possess the promises He made at the beginning of 2007, we needed to move out of our past experience and into a new paradigm. I must admit, this aspect of our walk has been a real struggle, simply because there have been many opportunities to draw back into ourselves because of the pressures of change and the fact that there was no guarantee (except the guarantee that comes through faith), that things will be different in the future.
    Subsequently, God has been ministering to me about the time when the Israelites came out of Egypt, that even with great signs and wonders they would not enter into their promise because mentally and spiritually they still were slaves. Slaves – whether to circumstances, sin, fear, people pleasing, finances and the like – will always prevent us from entering into God’s purpose because to be a ‘possessor’ requires us to subdue, whilst a slave mentality has already been subdued by some other influence other than God. It didn’t matter how much God demonstrated His purpose before them, their thinking caused them to stray from God’s plan. Similarly, unless we have a new paradigm for possessing promises we will never enter into them. Hence God’s dealings with us this year have been to shift us from our areas of slavery and into a possessor mentality.
    It’s not always easy to follow God – and let me say our enemy is usually not the Devil but our thinking. Every step requires faith – especially faith for miracles. Why, simply because most of the time the promise first manifests in opportunity. As we possess the initial dimension of opportunity we need to keep moving forward to see the fullness of His provision – sometimes taking further leaps of faith to see this happen. I have discovered this truth that promises don’t always come in neat and tidy gift-wrapped boxes – they are possessed. I have also seen that His ways will always offend a slave minded person because He works in a completely different format to bring us into His promises than to the way we got to the promise. 
    Whilst it has been a trying year, we have submitted to the dealings of God, we have kept our focus on Him and we are seeing many changes. Although this transformation is still very much ‘a work in progress’, we anticipate this new wineskin will be ready for the increase He has promised us.
    One of the greatest revelations that I have received this year having to do with entering into His promises is about understanding God’s view of time. This subject of time has been a stumbling block for me in the past as I could never understand why my life seemed to turn upside down whenever God gave me a promise for my future. Whether the promise was for relationships, ministry opportunities or provisions things always seemed to take a turn for the worst when I stood believing for my miracle. Little did I understand God’s process in bringing the promise to fruition – what does this have to do with God’s view of time? Let me explain. We Western folks understand time in linear measurement – accordance with clock and calendar. This is what the Greeks refer to as chronos time. I used to think that if enough time elapsed eventually I would walk into the promise of God. Whilst that is partially true, it was my eye on clock and calendar that kept me from entering into the promise. You see, it’s not merely the elapse of time that will see us enter into the fulfilment of God’s promise, but it’s the understanding of how He brings His promise to pass. He operates on another schedule – what the Greeks called kairos time. This is not a linear measurement of time but a moment in time when everything has come together to form the right opportunity for us to enter into that promise.
    We are used to asking God how long do I have to wait to see my miracle, when He is not thinking in those terms at all, but in terms of ‘I am ordering everything in your world to come together in a particular way, so that at one particular moment, and that could be anytime, you can possess it’. You see, when God gives us a promise to stand on and if we accept the opportunity, He begins to weave together the various threads of the promise so that we will be ready for it and it will be ready for us. In many ways this is dependant on how we submit to the process of getting ready. Sometimes, the other dimensions to our miracle require us to be wholly submitted to Him, so that His power is released through us to bring the other pieces together. The promises of God don’t just manifest automatically – they require someone to be co-operating with God’s Spirit. 
    This perspective is totally different to our understanding of clock and calendar. One perspective has to do with waiting for time to elapse and the other is a matter of working with the miracle that is forming. It’s like when a woman is pregnant and her body immediately starts to adjust itself for birth – these changes are often in many ways uncomfortable for her – but these are the physical preparations for birthing. During this time many other mental and financial adjustments need to take place both in her and the rest of the family so that everything will be ready for when the baby arrives. When does the baby arrive? If anyone has had children, they would all attest to the fact that the baby will come out when the baby is ready to come out – despite the expectancy dates. The baby knows when it’s the right time. And whilst Baby is choosing its’ moment of departure from the womb, everything else in its future world has to change in order to receive it. This is the same mind we have to have regarding God’s promises, when everything has formed properly it is time to possess it. However, the difference between having a baby and entering into the promises of God is that we can easily miss our opportunity to possess it simply because we were not ready for that moment when it arrived and then He has to start the whole process again in order to bring about that same moment at another time. We call this ‘going around the mountain’.
    It has to make us wonder how times have we gone around this mountain? How many times has God presented certain promises before us and for some reason or other we were not perceptive enough to possess our kairos moment, sending God back to work re-aligning new circumstances and everyone’s hearts for another opportunity for us to possess the promise, at some other moment in the future, whilst we walk around disgruntled about His promise never coming to pass. We need to be watchful to see when God presents the kairos moment before us.
    In many respects obeying Isaiah 43:18 has been pivotal to us enduring His dealings so that we could carry a new frequency for harvest. It’s His mercy that has brought us to an understanding of timing, possessing, co-operating with the Holy Spirit. He is preparing His people for increase in 2008. I have the sense of a harvest of an open heaven (with an increase in miracles, signs and wonders), a harvest of significant new ministry doors and opportunities opening, an increase in spiritual authority and stature and the harvest of souls in the next 12 months.